Bloody Water
by DancingWithPeacocks
Summary: Robbie Hunter is accused of murder and runs. But he's not alone. Eventually Robbie/Kim.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Bloody Water

Rating: T

Author: Solarbaby (aka Tara)

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.

Words: 483

Summary: Robbie is accused of murder and runs…

Spoilers: None really for this chapter. Umm… right after Tasha's aunt tricks her into selling the Caravan Park and Kim backs the building of the resort. Somewhere through there.

Notes: Finally, finally, I have this posted! You'll learn more about what happened as we go along. And they will get longer.

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Prologue

Robbie didn't know how he had gotten here. He sighed, the first sound that had been made in the car for a few hours, save a few sleeping murmurs from the female beside him. The radio had long since been turned off, having listened to the news for a few hours, now the music doing little more than agitate him. He still expected to see the flashing lights in the rearview mirror.

But there were none.

It had been a good nine hours in the car so far and darkness had long since descended. The gas light had come on a few miles back and now it was dwindling painfully low. They would have to stop soon. As soon as they we're far enough from Summer Bay, Robbie would have to ditch the car. A bus could get them where they needed to go, where ever that was.

God, this was screwed up.

He glanced over in the seat next to him. Hopefully he would be able to talk Mattie into turning back. There was no reason for her to leave as well.

"_Robbie what did you do?"_

"_But… I… I…"_

They hadn't believed him. Pain shot through him at the thought. After everything, they thought he had killed Brett. But it wasn't. He had promised Tasha he would help stop the Caravan Park from being turned into a resort but he wouldn't kill the man.

None of them believed him. Not his mother or brothers or Tasha or even Kim. The only person who believed him was sitting in the passenger side of the yellow car. Matilda had all but ambushed him when he was getting ready to leave. Robbie had tried to send her back, but all she had done was slid into the seat next to him, threatening to tell if he evicted her. He smiled to himself, remembering her first words to him, as incredulous as they were.

"_You're stealing Kim's car?"_

He sighed, popping his neck. Too much time had already been spent in this car and the brunette was beginning to feel it. They would have to leave Kim's car in the next town they crossed, before running out of gas ended up leaving them stranded on the side of the road.

The radio flipped back on causing him to jerk in surprise. This made the car weave a little on the road. Robbie quickly jerked back into the right lane then glanced over. Mattie had apparently awoken and was currently fiddling with the dials before finally choosing a station.

Robbie reached over to at least turn it down only to have his hand slapped away. "Hey!" He shot her a look, "Play nice."

She just sent him a grin. "Shut up and drive."

He bit the inside of his cheek, forcing back a sigh. This was going to be a long ride.

Robbie hit the gas.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Bloody Water

Rating: T

Author: Solarbaby (aka Tara)

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.

Words: 753

Summary: Robbie is accused of murder and runs…

Spoilers: None really for this chapter. Umm… right after Tasha's aunt tricks her into selling the Caravan Park and Kim backs the building of the resort. Somewhere through there.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Chapter 1

_There was blood on him, he noticed._

_On his clothes, his arms, his hands. It seemed into his shirt, making it stick to his chest. He glanced up into the mirror on the wall. There was a spot blood on his cheek as well that trailed down his neck. It was wet, still fresh, and only smeared as he tried to clean it off. _

"_I didn't kill him," he muttered under his breath. _

_The water sounded louder than it should when he turned on the faucet. He shoved his hands under the water and tried to wash off the blood. Water turned pink as it headed down the drain. Slowly, but surely, the blood started to disappear from his hands. _

_He jumped as there was a loud rapping at the door. _

"_Robbie? Are you alright?"_

"_Yeah, I'm--,"Robbie cut off as his voice cracked. He took a deep breath before he continued. "I'm alright."_

_He still couldn't get the image out of his head. Brett just laying there in a pool of his own blood, still. So still. His hands were shaking when he tried to clean off his face. _

"_Robbie?"_

"_Robbie?"_

"Robbie?"

A twenty year old Robbie Hunter jerked up as a hand touched his shoulder. His hammock swung precariously before he lost the fight and crashed to the floor. "Ow," he groaned as he rubbed his head.

"You alright?"

He looked up at his sister from his place on the floor. Mattie was covering up her mouth, obviously trying not to laugh. "I'm fine." Robbie scrambled to his feet and tossed the blankets up to the still swinging hammock.

She just laughed. "You might want to go on and get in the shower. Alec, Bryan, and Alyssa haven 't gotten up get so there might still be some hot water if you hurry."

Robbie glanced around the living room where his hammock hung. He got a clear view of Serena and Cassie already in the kitchen, eating. There came a loud thump from upstairs followed by cursing. Moving quickly, he grabbed some clothes from his dresser and bolted upstairs.

Matilda kept laughing as she heard more yelling from the second story followed by a door slam and a 'Robbie!'. She shook her head at them and headed for the kitchen.

"Morning!" The blonde haired Serena was always way too chipper in the mornings. She was currently perched on a stool, chowing down on a piece of toast that bordered heavily on the burnt side.

"Good morning." Mattie grabbed a glass from drainer and gave it a quick once over to make sure it was clean. If she remembered right it had been Alec's turn to do dishes and that wasn't exactly reassuring. It looked marginally clean.

Cassie handed her the juice before digging back into the fridge. The tall blonde pulled out what appeared to be a notebook and a set of car keys.

"Do I want to ask?" Mattie asked the two women. Both shook their heads so she let it go. She had learned quickly not to ask stuff like that. "I wish Robbie would hurry. I'm going to be late for school."

"No, you're not."

She turned to find her brother standing in the doorway and couldn't help but take notice how much he had changed in the past few years. Gone were the glasses, replaced with contacts. Even his clothes were more stylish than before. Though that could have a lot to do with the fact that she refused to let him do his clothes shopping alone.

He snatched a piece of toast off of Serena's plate ("Hey!") before going to the sink to scrap off some of the more burnt places. Robbie glanced over his shoulder as heard a 'thunk' and cursing. Alec came stumbling into the room, rubbing the now red spot on his forehead. Muffled snickering could be heard around the room.

"It's not funny." Alec muttered as he took a seat at the table, burying his face in his arms.

Matilda just grinned. "No, of course not." She grabbed her bag off of the floor, snatching her brother's arm on the way out of the door. "Come on, Robbie. I can't afford to be late again."

"Fine." He grabbed his keys as he was dragged out the door. As he passed by the island Serena reached out and snatched her toast back. "But… my toast…"

Serena just waved at him as he gave the toast a forlorn look.

And so life continued on.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Bloody Water

Rating: T

Author: Solarbaby (aka Tara)

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.

Words: 814

Summary: Robbie is accused of murder and runs…

Spoilers: None really for this chapter. Umm… right after Tasha's aunt tricks her into selling the Caravan Park and Kim backs the building of the resort. Somewhere through there.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Chapter 2

Thunk.

"Alec."

Thunk.

"Alec."

Thunk.

"Alec!"

Thunk.

This time Mattie caught the rubber ball mid-air before it could reach back to the dark haired boy. She shoved it under the couch cushion and flopped back down.

"Hey!" Alec sat up from his position on the floor, glaring at the blonde. It was ignored as she grabbed her book off the table and continued her with her work. "I thought you were going to do your homework in your room."

She shook her head. "No way. The smell of the hair dye makes me sick." Chewing on her pencil absently, Mattie dug through her notes.

"Hair dye?" he asked confused before realization struck him. "Alyssa's not dying her hair again, is she?"

"Yep." She finally looked up from her school work. "She's cornered Cassie to put it on. I guess she didn't want a repeat of the last time." A grimace crossed her face as she recalled the incident. Alyssa had attempted to bleach it herself resulting in pumpkin orange looking strips in her hair. She honestly thought the woman was going to strangle Bryan after the tiger remarks he had started to make.

He jumped up from the floor and trailed over to the couch, pushed her feet off before taking their place. All it got was a look of annoyance before she readjusted her position. "So what color is she going for this time?"

"Green," Mattie replied. "Or maybe it was blue. I couldn't get a good look at the box."

Shaking his head, Alec stretched out and grinned at her. "I doubt it was blue. She's already tried it before and didn't like the turn out."

A thoughtful look crossed her face. "Maybe I should get them to dye my hair."

He snorted in response. "Robbie would kill you."

"He would not kill me." She poked him in the side with her foot, grinning when he squirmed.

"I wouldn't kill you for what?"

The two turned to find Robbie standing in the doorway, looking vaguely amused. He had a couple of bags of what looked like leftovers from the diner in one hand and a half eaten bagel in the other. Kicking the door shut, the man shoved the bagel in his mouth and transferred some of the bags to the other hand.

"Nothing." Mattie watched her brother as he entered the kitchen. She could the look of disbelief he shot her over the island.

Robbie gave a short laugh. "Nothing? Yeah, right."

"Mattie wants to dye her hair." Alec piped in only to get poked in the side a lot rougher this time. "Gah!" He barely caught himself from falling off the couch.

She sent him a dark look. "Tattletale," Mattie muttered under her breath. "So…?" she trailed off, looking to her brother hopefully.

"Absolutely," At the startled look on his sister's face Robbie continued, "As long as it's blonde." He laughed as he barely dodged a pillow being tossed at his head.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Alyssa seemed fairly happy with her aqua blue hair so the rest of the household was content to ignore it, for the most part. Robbie had caught Mattie eyeing the hair speculatively a couple of times but hadn't said anything about it. She was pretty sure he wouldn't be too mad with her, as long as the color was anything too outrageous.

Mattie frowned as she put the pink hair dye back down. Moving away from some of the more bright colors, she found herself in front of a set of browns.

God, who knew there were so many shades of brown? Taking a closer look, she took a closer look at the shades. A frown crossed her face. They looked exactly the same. She sat the boxes a side and moved away. Brown would make her look too much like Robbie anyways.

A color caught her eye and she grinned, snatching it up. It was a natural color.

Kinda.

She snatched up a couple boxes and headed for the register. Mattie grabbed up a couple of candy bars on the way. It wasn't much, but it might help soften Robbie up. A grimace escaped her as she paid for her stuff. She wasn't sure how Alyssa could afford do this constantly. Pausing for a moment, Mattie wondered if she would be able to get Cassie or Alyssa or even Serena to help her with it.

Thinking about ways to bribe for help, she didn't even see the person until she smacked right into him. "Ow," escaped her as she crashed to the ground.

"Sorry."

She froze as a hand came down to help her up. Mattie knew that voice. It had lived in her house for a while. Glancing up confirmed it. She scrambled to her feet to her feet, ignoring the hand.

The tall man paled as he looked down at her. "Mattie."

"Hi, Kim."


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Bloody Water

Rating: T

Author: Solarbaby (aka Tara)

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.

Words: 589

Summary: Robbie is accused of murder and runs…

Spoilers: None really for this chapter. Umm… right after Tasha's aunt tricks her into selling the Caravan Park and Kim backs the building of the resort. Somewhere through there.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Chapter 4

"Serena?" A male voice called out, startling the woman. She jerked unsteadily and peered down at the ground. A brunette stared back, looking somewhat uncertain.

"Serena," Robbie started again, "why are you on the roof of the garage?"

She shrugged and held up a sketch pad. There was a muttered 'of course' in reply. Stepping closer to the edge, she got an alarmed sound out of the man. "What?"

"Just," he paused a moment as she sat down and let her legs dangle over of the edge, "be careful, alright?"

There was a light laugh from the woman as she bounced slightly. Robbie just looked alarmed as she started to slid forward but she caught herself before she got too far and pulled herself back up.

The sound Robbie made somehow managed to be both annoyed and exasperated at the same time. He rolled his eyes as she grinned down at him. "You're going to fall and die."

She snorted. "Am not." Such a drama queen. Serena swung her legs out and Robbie had to duck back quickly to avoid being kicked in the head. A glare was sent her way, which she dutifully ignored.

He sighed and shook his head. "Whatever," he muttered. "Have you seen Mattie?"

"She left a little while ago to run a couple of errands." Serena tossed her sketch pad to the grass and followed after it. There was that alarmed sound from Robbie again that she snickered at. She pulled herself to her feet and laced her arm through the slightly pale brunette. "She should be back soon." She pulled him toward the house. "Come on. I'll make you a sandwich."

oOoOoOoOoOo

Robbie was half way through his second ham sandwich by the time Mattie returned home. The sound of the front door opening caught his attention. He glanced up to see a head full of blonde hair pass by the doorway. "Mattie?" he called out, getting up.

Leaning out the doorway, he caught sight of his sister sitting on the couch, her face buried in her hands. Worry filled him as she looked up at him.

Mattie was pale and shaking and Robbie was by her side in a minute. She ran a hand through her hair, making it even more disheveled than before.

"Mattie?" he tried again, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Kim," was all she managed to say.

He froze, immediately feeling a cold sense of panic course through him. That wasn't a name that he had heard in a very long time and the fact that it came up now was enough to be concerned. "Kim?"

She glanced up at him through a curtain of hair. The worry showing in his eyes were echoed in hers, which didn't bode well. "I saw him," her voice was barely above a whisper. "He's here."

"Here?" he asked. The cold feeling gripped at his chest. "Here-here? In this town here?"

There was a nod in reply. "I saw him and I talked to him and he kept asking questions about you."

For one moment Robbie was sure that his sister was going to start hyperventilating but just took a deep breath. He started to say something else but the look on her face stopped him, telling him that there was more to come and he wasn't going to like it.

"I told him that I didn't know where you were. That you dropped me off and left. But I don't think he believed me. He's coming here, Robbie. Tonight."


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Bloody Water

Rating: T

Author: Solarbaby (aka Tara)

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.

Words: 1051

Summary: Robbie is accused of murder and runs…

Spoilers: None really for this chapter. Umm… right after Tasha's aunt tricks her into selling the Caravan Park and Kim backs the building of the resort. Somewhere through there.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Chapter 5

As Robbie dumped his duffle bag on the bed he couldn't help but wonder how he let himself be talked into this. He fell onto the mattress and it gave a loud squeak in reply. It was the best and most logical of the ideas that any of them had been able to come up with.

Not that they really delved too deeply into what was going on with the others. All they knew was that Robbie had gotten into some trouble back home but that was it. What he and Mattie had told them was that someone was coming over that Robbie was avoiding and it was probably best if Kim just didn't know he was there at all.

There had been a few weird looks but no one had asked too many questions. It actually seemed as though Alec and Serena were both relishing the idea of acting like Robbie didn't live there.

Robbie really tried not to think too much about that.

A yawn escaped him as he stretched out. The cheap comforter rubbed against his arms and the back of his neck as his joints popped. Maybe he should have listened to Bryan when he told him to bring his own instead of waving it off as part of the man's motel phobia. His snickers echoed through the empty room.

But they were soon drowned out as he flipped on the tv.

oOoOoOoOoOo

The last thing that Kim expected to see when he showed up at the conspicuously normal looking hair was a woman with blue hair standing in the yard beside an ancient bench holding a sledge hammer. She up and swung it around, before connecting with the bench. It gave a faint crack but held together. "Damn it!" She was swinging it around for another shot when she caught sight of him, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto the bench. It creaked again, before snapping and collapsing under her weight. Blinking, she looked at it incredulously. "Huh."

"Um… hello." Kim stepped forward, intending to help her up but he never got the chance.

"Hello," she replied, scrambling out of the damage. "You must be Kim."

"Yeah." He eyed her wearily as she picked up the hammer. "And you are…"

"Oh, I'm Alyssa!" The hammer swung back and forth as she bounced up to him. "Mattie's waiting for you inside. She seemed really nervous for some reason." Alyssa looked him up and down, inspecting him like a piece of meat and making him shift uncomfortably. "I don't see why. You don't look that dangerous. I could totally take you."

He stared at the sledge hammer she held up in a vaguely menacing manner. "You not going to try, are you?"

She giggled and grabbed his arm. "You're funny." And she was pulling him toward the front door.

It opened as they reached the front porch and Mattie was standing there, arms crossed with an amused expression on her face. "You finally get the bench knocked down with that thing?" She motioned toward the hammer.

A slightly embarrassed look crossed Alyssa's face before quickly being replaced with a grin. "Sure let's go with that!" She let go of his arm and brushed past Mattie, whispering 'he's cute' as she moved inside.

Sighing, Mattie shook her head. "Don't leave that on the kitchen counter either," she yelled into the house.

There was an affirmative sounding reply that followed.

She turned back to Kim.

"Well, come on in."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"And you haven't heard anything from Robbie at all."

"Nope." She shook her head, taking a bite of the pizza. "He just sort of… took off."

"I can't believe Robbie would do any of this." Kim rubbed his eyes, leaning against the wall. "Look," he started, digging through his pockets, "I have to call your mother and tell her where you are."

She was out of her seat in a moment, grabbing his hands. "No, Kim. You can't! She'll call the police!"

"I have to tell them. Your mom has been worried sick. They thought Robbie had kidnapped you. Everyone expected to find you dead in a ditch somewhere."

Mattie snorted. "Robbie wouldn't hurt me. He wouldn't-- couldn't hurt anyone!"

"You still believe that he didn't kill the man."

"No! Otherwise I wouldn't have left with him."

"You what?" There was a baffled look on his face.

"I made him take me with him." He managed to pull out of her grasp and she stepped back, eyeing him. "I wasn't going to let him go through this alone."

Realization appeared on Kim's face and he went wide-eyed. "What you told me earlier was a lie. You know where Robbie is."

She crossed her arms and shrugged. "Maybe."

Kim visibly wavered, then sighed, pulling a cell phone from his pocket. "I definitely have to call her now."

"Please, Kim. Don't do this!" Her hand wrapped around his as she continued, pleadingly. "I thought you cared about Robbie…"

Kim's gripped tightened on the phone and for a second she thought he might give in. But she never got the chance to find out.

Mattie barely had time blink before she saw shock of blue hair move behind Kim and there was a 'crack' and Kim collapsed to the floor.

"Alyssa, what the hell did you do?!"

She flinched and shrugged, still holding the frying pan in her hand. "I panicked!"

oOoOoOoOoOo

Robbie was halfway asleep when a familiar ringtone started coming from the bedside table. He groaned and rolled over, blinking into the darkness. What little light in the room was coming from the phone's screen and it kind of hurt his eyes when he looked at it.

Mattie's name glared back, like it was mocking him. He flipped it open in time to see the call go to voicemail. For a few moments he laid there, debating on whether sleep was a better option than listening to the voicemail, while the screen when black, sending him into complete darkness.

"Aw… hell."

"_Um… hey, Rob. We kind of have a little problem here so… can you get home? Like now?... Stop poking at him, Bryan!... Look, just get here!"_ Click.

Robbie sat up and flicked on the lamp, staring down at the phone in his lap.

"What the hell?"


End file.
